No, you aren’t seeing double: There are two of them, and they’re identical.

Jeremy and Justin Wagner, from Oklahoma City, Okla., are both baseball and basketball players at ENC.

The twins room together in Shields Hall and share many of the same interests and qualities.

On the court, Jeremy wears #11 and Justin wears #22, but how easy is it to tell them apart off the court?

“Jeremy has the rounder face,” said Justin.

Justin admitted that Jeremy often keeps him in check.

“Jeremy is probably more serious. He keeps me on track every now and then when I get too goofy.”

Born only one minute apart, the Wagners — who attended Mount St. Mary High School — have been participating in the same activities their entire lives.

They began playing basketball at the age of three, and tee ball followed shortly after at the age of four.

Playing together for so long has led to positive results on the court.

“We kind of know where the other one is, we don’t really have to look after playing with [each other] for 14-15 years,” said Justin.

He added, “We know our strengths and weaknesses to put people in the best opportunity.”

Justin plays 22.5 minutes per game, while Jeremy plays 13.8. Justin is second on the Lions with 1.4 steals per game, while his brother averages 0.7. This defensive mindset is what the brothers pride themselves on.

“If you can stop the opponent from scoring, you don’t have to do too much offensively. Defense is more important because it leads to offense,” said Justin.

The freshmen are part of the reason the men’s basketball team has more than tripled its win total from the 2011-12 season.

Both Wagners hope to coach baseball or basketball at the high school or collegiate level after they graduate, and to instill the defensive mindset they themselves have.

“In baseball, fundamentals and defense would be important first; offense will come, so it would be defensive-minded,” said Jeremy.

The twins thank their parents and coaches for the discipline they have on and off the court.

“On the court, [our mentor] was our basketball coach, coach Hatchett; what he instilled wasn’t necessarily X’s and O’s of basketball, but more life lessons,” said Jeremy.

He continued, “Our parents have really helped us off the court to just understand that studies [come] before anything athletic.”
Jeremy explained that on the baseball field the twins “don’t do anything extraordinary, but we try to do the little things correct to help out the big things.”

As sports management majors, they have set big goals on personal levels.

Academically, they hope to “excel and strive for a 4.0 every semester,” said Jeremy.

Both of them echoed that they want to “bring a championship to both basketball and baseball. Just to continue to get better each year.”

Even though the Wagners wear different numbers on the court, not everyone can tell them apart.

“Our high school basketball coach, we were with him for four years and he still doesn’t know the difference,” said Justin.

Added Jeremy, “He would call us ‘twin.’”

Jeremy and Justin enjoy most of the same things, look up to similar people, and play the same sports, but one thing is clear: The Wagner twins will play an instrumental part on and off the court during their time at ENC.